Posted: 7 September, 2018. Written by Virginia Graham
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court on 29 August 2018 found six men guilty of running a solar PV scam which defrauded 1,500 consumers, including older and vulnerable consumers, to the tune of £17 million. They will be sentenced on 1 October 2018.
David Diaz, Ludovic Black, Stephen Wilson, Robert Ross, Niall Hastie and Kenneth Reid were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud by false representation in the case brought by Serious Fraud Office (SFO). One further man, Gary McVey, was acquitted.
According to the SFO the men 'manipulated their victims by using deceitful sales techniques, outright lies and false guarantees of reimbursement to misrepresent the offer and maximise their sales'.
Customers of Solar Energy Savings Ltd and Ultra Energy Ltd were promised that, if they installed solar PV panels costing between £10,000 and £20,000, they were guaranteed to make their money back within five years, thanks to an 'insurance scheme' underwritten by a company called Capital Suisse. In reality no insurance existed, Capital Suisse did not exist and consumers never made their money back.
Neither of these companies was ever a member of RECC.